So far I've used 3 brand.

IBM still the most solid - but expensive ! Dell flimsy design, always have the cursor flying all over the screen cos the palm reast flex alot (maybe only happen to budget model ) and Acer ... so-so with lousy keyboard layout (refer below).

One thing to note is the keyboard layout. If you use the "Home", "End", "Pg Up" & "Pg Dn" pls look to make sure you don't need to use the FN keys to sellect them. They are a real pain if you use MS Office alot - especially Excel.